Filthy Casual
by SeedOfUnease
Summary: Amethyst discovers that Peridot is not, in fact, a hardcore gamer.


_When one door closes, another door opens._

Peridot had picked up a lot of human slang since joining the Crystal Gems, but that particular expression always spoke to her. Does it work in reverse? she wondered. When one door opens, does another door close?

She'd never expected to find out firsthand. And everything had been going so right, too.

She'd invited Amethyst to her room ( _Why did I do that?!_ ), just like she'd done many times before. They made out, like they'd done many times before.

Then the closet door had swung open, and Amethyst had looked in, and it had all gone to hell.

"Whoa, Peri, what the heck is all this?"

Peridot walked over and stared glumly into the closet. There was a Wii in there, cords neatly organized. Angry Birds plushies lined one of the shelves. Most of one wall was taken up by a FEZ poster. And in the center, her pride and joy…

Peridot felt her heart sink as she looked at it. A picture of the pound cake she'd baked for *Hyun-ae. She'd felt so proud of it too- on Earth for only three months, and she'd managed to cook something without burning the house down!- but now? She wished she'd never made the damn thing.

"What, _those_?" Her voice was high-pitched, nervous. She cursed herself, and continued in a more normal tone. "Oh, they're are, um… a friend's. I'm holding onto them while they're on vacation."

 _Yes… that's plausible._

Amethyst gave her a look. "Really, Peri? I didn't know ya had friends outside the Temple. Anyone I know?"

 _Shit._

Peridot racked her brains. Nothing sprang to mind. "No, not really. Just a human. You probably haven't met her."

Amethyst grinned and slapped her on the back. "Aw, lookit you, bein' all social and junk. You've really gotten the hang of Earth life."

"Aha…" Peridot blushed a little and looked at her feet.

"Although…" Amethyst rubbed her chin. "Why haven't ya invited her over? Like, I have Vidalia over all the time, Steven has Connie… 's not like we banned humans from here or anything."

"Oh, well, it's just…"

 _Just admit it, dammit. The more you lie to her, the more she'll hate you when the truth finally comes out._

Utterly defeated, Peridot began to cry. She'd built her image, her _relationship_ , on a lie, and now it had all come crashing down. "Amethyst…" she sobbed. "I lied to you. I lied to everyone. I'm not a hardcore gamer!"

Amethyst looked confused.

 _Of course she does, she can't believe I would do something like this._

"I don't like Call of Duty. I never have!" Peridot pulled her visor off and flicked away tears. A couple fingers went flying into the Closet of Shame, but she was too agitated to notice.

"I play not-games. Art games. Casual games. Everything but _real_ games! Candy Crush Saga, Journey, Dear Esther… I bought Gone Home at full price!"

"Peri, I don't get why-"

"Why I would do this? Deceive you? Waste my life with this t- _trash_?" Peridot's voice hitched. "I don't know. I know you hate me, I don't blame you, just give me till tonight to pack up and lea- mph!"

Amethyst was kissing her. Harder, more urgently than she'd ever been kissed before. She didn't know _why_ Amethyst would want to kiss a liar and a fraud, but... she'd take it. This was probably the last kiss she'd ever have, anyway.

So she kissed Amethyst back, losing herself in her girlfriend's lips. Like all good kisses, it seemed to last forever but was over far too soon.

Peridot could see her tears glistening on Amethyst's face. "Peri," she said softly. "Look at me."

Peridot looked at her, sniffling a little.

" _I don't care_. I don't care what games you play. I don't care that you felt like you needed to lie to us about it. What I _do_ care about, though, is you. I care about you, and I care about how you're beating yourself up over playing the wrong friggin' _video games_." Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Why does it matter? No, seriously?"

Peridot staggered backwards and flopped on her bed. "They're… they're not _serious!_ _Anyone_ can play them-"

"Peri, come _on_! They're _video games_!" Amethyst shook her head. "They're supposed to be _fun_! Just look at Steven! Didn't you see the look on his face when you got 1000 points in Flappy Bird?"

She smiled. "The kid worships you, Peri."

"I… he does?"

Amethyst sat down next to her and began massaging her shoulders. "Course he does. And y'know what? So do I."

Peridot's tear-stained face broke into a smile. "Really?"

"Peri, you're _incredible_! I can't even get past level 47 in Candy Crush Saga, and you blazed through it in, like, ten minutes!" Amethyst climbed off the bed and knelt down. "Teach me your secrets!"

Peridot laughed and shoved her girlfriend playfully. "Knock it off, you clod."

Then she hopped off the bed and pulled out her phone. "Now, let me show you how it's done…


End file.
